


Us and them

by v01tr0n_trash



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Acxa & Keith (Voltron) are Siblings, Allura & Lance (Voltron) are Siblings, Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Feels, F/M, Galra Keith (Voltron), M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-05-17 12:13:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14832068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/v01tr0n_trash/pseuds/v01tr0n_trash
Summary: Through a collision of destinies, lost families are reunited, allies in a seemingly never-ending war are made, and love is found in the face of the enemy.***"With, without, And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?"





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Hey Hey people of AO3!  
> New Story New Account!  
> v01t0n_trash is an account with 2 authors, Tay and Ness. We are both upcoming seniors and therefore we will try our hardest on updating and writing but we are only human.  
> Tay does most of the writing but occasionally Ness will come up with ideas to help the story going and write one of the many stories that we will publish. Ness is also in charge of publishing and updating.  
> This story is written by Tay.  
> Enjoy the Stories and be sure to give much love!

_ “You were so small when I first saw you.” _

Krolia tenderly held her son in her arms as she lay in bed while the ceiling fan above lazily spun around in an attempt to keep away the humid heat of the summer night out of the small room. The song of bugs permeated the screen of the open window next to her bed. Their ballad ebbed and flowed with the cool breeze that brought with it the scent of rain from the storm far off on the horizon. Lightning could be seen touching down on the earth underneath the spreading canopy of the storm’s blue-grey clouds. She was so absorbed in her surroundings that she wouldn’t have heard him enter if he wouldn’t have stepped on the squeaky floorboard.

“I finally got Acxa to fall asleep. Any luck with Keith?”

Krolia turned her attention to the father of her two children. “He’s still awake.” She sighed. Looking at her son was like looking at a picture of her as a child. His purple eyes stared innocently up at her own as the breeze from outside ruffled his hair.

“ _ Even though you were small, I knew I couldn’t leave you in the hands of the enemy.” _

Unspoken words spanned the distance between the two lovers. 

“Krolia-” he began.

“I have to go.” She interrupted him before he could finish. “It hurts, but we both know it’s not safe for any of us if we stay here.”

“We?”

She shifted her gaze from Keith up to him. When he saw the look in her eyes he knew the answer before she could even say it.

“I have to take him with me. He resembles me the most and neither of us will be safe here. I have to return to the Blade before they send reinforcements to come looking for me.”

“What about Acxa? She’ll never know her brother or her mother. What about us?” 

Krolia’s emotions began to threaten to spill over as the painful reality of the situation at hand hit home in her heart. Not only would her leaving be detrimental to the relationship she held with the man she loved, but it would separate their two children from each other. 

Even though it hurt, she knew that she needed to do what was best for them and for their children. The rest was just collateral damage.

Taking a deep breath, she explained. “That’s something we’ll just have to deal with.” She paused and looked not at her son, whose innocent eyes had closed in peaceful sleep, but at her shoes. “I’m so sorry for putting you through this. This is all my fault.” Warm, salty tears began to run down her face. “If I had been more careful and double checked everything on the ship before I left none of this would have ever happened. I never would have crash landed here. I never would have met you. And I wouldn’t have gotten us into this mess. This is all my fault.”

A warm hand caressed her cheek lovingly, gently urging her to look up to whom it belonged. 

When their eyes met, she was put at ease by the love she saw within the gentle, teary eyes of the man she loved. “If you hadn’t come here I never would have found the love of my life or gotten the pleasure to start a family of my own with her. Don’t you  _ ever _ try to tell yourself that this is your fault, because it’s not and I need you to understand that, okay?” They were both crying now. “Because before you came along, my life was empty of everything and the you came and showed me the wonder and beauty of life. I love you so, so much Krolia. If we never see each other again, never forget that I love to to the ends of the universe and back again.”

They sat there, wrapped in each other’s embrace for the longest time. 

That night, they fell asleep listening to wind blow against the house accompanied by the rumble of thunder, their son tucked contentedly between the two of them.

_ “I saw great potential inside of you, my son.” _

With pain in every step, Krolia left place that she had called home for the past two deca-phoebs. 

Under the cover of darkness and in the pelting rain, she held her son close to her chest in a sling for him that she had prepared from his favorite blanket as she made her way to the barn in which her ship had been collecting dust since it had been repaired shortly after she crashed on Earth. 

With a great clatter the barn doors opened to reveal the machine used for interplanetary transportation. She climbed the side of the craft and into the cockpit, as it slid shut over top of her head she glanced down at her son, who slept peacefully with his small stuffed hippo held close to his body by his tiny purple fingers. 

Memories flooded her mind as her training as a fighter pilot took over and started the engines.

Memories of the first time they met when she crashed out in one of the fields, memories of the night he kissed her and she almost throat punched him due to her surprise, the memory of her finding out she would be a mother soon, the memory of holding her children in her arms for the first time. 

Krolia left all these behind her as the tiny blue planet of Earth slipped away into the blur of hyperspace. 

She didn’t shed a tear because she had to be strong. 

If not for her own sanity, then for her son who meant the universe to her.

_ “So I decided to take you with me and raise you as my own.” _

The Blade of Marmora’s medical station was under attack by Zarkon’s warship.

Krolia fought a frantic upstream battle against the people going the opposite way and out to the escape pods while emergency sirens pulsed loudly in her ears. 

The only reason why she was here was that Kolivan had insisted that the medical station was a much more suitable place for her and her child to stay for the time being. They had both agreed that the station would be much safer than the headquarters.

Oh how they had been wrong. 

She now found herself in a mad scramble to get to her quarters where Keith was sleeping in his crib. The crowd began to thin out she ran down hallways where a few stragglers on crutches or in wheelchairs struggled to make it out in time. All of a sudden, the station gave a great shudder and the ground seemed to be pulled out from underneath her legs. 

A different siren started to sound, and a staticky announcement came over the intercom system alerting all passengers that they were being boarded at the port docking bay and that all evacuees should make their way to the starboard side of the ship for immediate emergency evac. 

This would have been fine if not for the fact that all this time, Krolia’s effort had been put into making it to the port side of the station where her son was.

Where Zarkon was.

She didn’t remember getting up, all she remembered from the rest of that day was finding her way to the sealed off corridor where just behind the locked, blast-proof door sat the hallway where her son sat in their room. She saw the Galran foot soldiers flanking the door in front of her very eyes.

Her room.

Out of which came Zarkon, holding a small bundle of blankets in his arms.

That bundle of blankets was her son, whose tiny fingers grasped the hippo that she had picked out for him the day before he was born.

She screamed and beat on the door, hoping against hope that it would open to allow her to take her son back from the hands of the Galran warlord. 

As Zarkon disappeared from her sight, so too did the only being left in her world that she cared about.

_ “That, my dear son, is how I found you. Now you are home where you belong.” _

_ He stared down proudly at his son, whose hopeful eyes reflected the brightest stars in the galaxy from where he lay in his bed. _

_ “One day when my time in the cosmos is over, you will rule in my place.” _

_ The boy wiggled happily under the covers and smiled a fangless but toothy grin. “Buh wuh abou bruh-er?” _

_ The man began to grimace but caught himself before the expression could take full form upon his face. “Your brother will have his chance, little one. Don’t you worry.” _

_ His son closed his eyes as his father turned off  the lamp on the bedside table, letting the darkness fully engulf the room save for the glowing window of stars that took up the ceiling. It wasn’t a real window, of course, but the small child enjoyed the view of the astral bodies as he fell asleep at night. _

_ “Ganigh Papa. I wuv you,” he called out to his father whose cape hung at his shoulders while he stood in the lit doorway, light from the hall throwing a golden hue into the dark room. _

_ “Goodnight, son.”  _

_ The door slid shut in the emperor’s wake. Affections were never returned to the small child from his father. _

_ But that was okay, he figured.  _

_ As long as he loved his father, the universe would be okay and his small little world would be fine, because as long as he had his brother and his father he would never truly be alone. _

_ Maybe one day his father would tell him he loved him too.  _

_ And maybe, just maybe, he would hug him back like his brother did when they were alone. _

_ Some time later the door opened up again, this time a smaller figure entered the room. It made its way across the room with practiced grace and finesse.  _

_ Barely able to contain his excitement and briefly forgetting the circumstance, the toddler gave a happy cry of joy. “Wo-toe!” _

_ “Shhh!” The older boy hushed as he crawled under the covers beside his brother.  _

_ Their father ruled over more than just his subjects with an iron fist, giving rise to the strictly regimented lifestyles of the two young children. _

_ “Sahwee.” The little boy squeezed his eyes shut and shrunk back in anticipation of what he had come to expect after being reprimanded. Seeing his little brother draw back in fright, Lotor’s expression immediately softened and he enveloped the other boy in a comforting hug. _

_ “Don’t shrink back like that, Kalmon, I wouldn’t dare lay a finger on you to harm you on purpose. You know me better than that.” Looking around briefly, he could tell that something was missing.  _

_ “Where did you hide Fluff fluff from him this time?”  _

_His question was answered by Kal_ _wriggling out of his embrace and tunnelling under the covers to the very foot of them bed. When he came back up to the top again, an oddly obtuse, stuffed creature was held in his brother’s arms. It was an animal that Lotor had never even seen before, but for some reason Kal_ _simply adored it. His brother’s happiness brought a rare smile to Lotor’s face that quickly disintegrated when Kal_ _asked him a question._

_ “Why fah-er naugh like Fwuff-fwuff?” _

_ Lotor knew why. _

_ It was the same reason why his favorite blanket had been burned in front of him, as had Kalmon’s been burned in front of him – luckily Lotor had had the foresight to hide the stuffed monstrosity out of sight from his father and lie to his face about it falling apart.  _

_ Attachment left room for weakness to make its way into the heart. _

_ Lotor would always remember that after his father had told him this when he caught his eldest son nursing a small animal back to health in his room.  _

_ Lotor had tried to stop him from squeezing the life out of the poor thing, but had only ended up thrown against a wall. Right before the tyrant left the room, that was what he had told his son. _

_ “Father just thinks Fluff-fluff looks scary. Kind of like how you think Haggar looks scary and refuse to be anywhere close to her.” He told the small child with a smile, causing Kal to giggle quietly into his favorite little companion. _

_ It did seem funny. _

_ Their father being afraid of such a small, unimpressive creature that was more hideous that cute. _

_ But the longer he could keep the truth about the monstrosity obscured, the better. _

_ A small pair of arms embraced Lotor. _

_ “I wuv you Wo-toe. Yo dah bes brover ever.” _

_ “I love you too, Kal. Even though we may not be related by blood, you are the best thing I could have ever asked for in this universe.” _

_ Under the faux blanket of stars, the two brothers fell asleep, unsure of what the next day would bring, but taking comfort in knowing they had each other. _

_ Together forever. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any questions, comments, or concerns, you can tell ask us at tumblr or ask us on instagram with the tag #usandthemvld  
> Wattpad: horsegirl7241  
> Tumblr: v01t0n_trash


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As of now, there is no updating schedule but I, Ness, assure you that we are trying our best to keep our flow going. The chapters are coming out slow and steady but that is because we want to show the best for you.  
> This story is written by Tay.  
> Enjoy the Stories and be sure to give much love!

The wise king watched sadly as the battle raged outside of the palace. As the sun began to set in the sky, so too did he know that the time of his rule was coming to an end. Although every king who was worth his weight knew that his rule was only temporary, the fact that his friend of many deca-phoebs was the the assailant of his people made it all the more heart wrenching.

It was only a matter of time before he met his friend on the field of battle, something that Alfor did not look forward to or expect to walk away from.

His survival was not important.

What mattered was that the lions were hidden away and his children were safe.

However hard it was to send all but one of the lions off into the unknown reaches of the universe, the thought of sending his children away to safety weighed heavy in his heart. He had already done so with his daughter, the only one left was his son.

“Father! Zarkon’s forces have overrun our own. I told the men to retreat from the front lines and create a perimeter around the city.”

Lance, Alfor’s eldest and only son entered the room, his words carrying with them the determination of a warrior.

“We must find Trigel and Gyrgen so we can fight the best we can against Zarkon without the power of the black lion. I will go get Blue so I can be ready once they have been found.”

“They are dead.”

The truth of the words that echoed around the room held fast in the prince’s heart but did not diminish his hope of victory.

“Then let us not mourn their deaths but give them something to be proud of. The two of us can take Blue and Red and avenge their deaths.”

Perhaps the paladin that was most strongly bonded with their lion, Lance and the blue lion had a deep connection, able to call for each other’s help from entire galaxies away. That was why the next words he told his son left a sour and unpleasant aftertaste in Alfor’s mouth.

“I sent the lions away so Zarkon cannot get his hands on them. I am so sorry my son.”

Lance closed his eyes in deep concentration, trying to reach out to his lion.

No.

His friend.

When the warrior received no answer, he knew that his beloved companion was no longer with him and would not be returning.

Blinking back tears that threatened to spill forth from behind his eyes, he looked his father right in the eyes.

Before Alfor could try to explain his next course of action, the doors opened to admit a familiar face into the room.

“King Alfor. Allura is already secured in the sleeping chamber and the other two are prepped and—” Coran stopped mid sentence when he realized they weren’t the only two in the room.

“Prince Lance.” He acknowledged the king’s son with respect, aware that he had inadvertently revealed a part of King Alfor’s plan that was not meant to be shared with his son.

Lance had been upset before but had strengthened his resolve to show no emotions for the benefit of his father whose duty to his people far outweighed how his son felt about a decision that was beyond his control. But this time, he couldn’t help himself from spitting out cold, spiteful words.

“So this was your plan all along.”

“Lance—”

“To send away the lions and Blue and go running into the night like an honorless coward with your tail between your legs while your children sit abandoned like table scraps.” The shaking and rumbling of the castle from the bombardments seemed to set the foreboding mood of the conversation as Lance turned his back on Alfor and drew his sword from the sheath at his back. Although he was a skilled swordsman, he missed how the bow that accompanied Blue’s bayard fit in his hand so well.

“I, unlike you, am not a dishonorable traitor and I will meet Zarkon on the field of battle. Stay with Coran and keep my little sister safe.” He ordered without so much as a glance back at his father.

Before he could reach the doors that lay open in front of him, Alfor called out to his son. “Lance.”

The warrior stopped in his tracks, whether out of respect or curiosity, the king could not tell.

“My intention was never to abandon you and your sister here.”

Although it elicited no response from his son, Alfor knew that he was listening.

“All I wanted to do was ensure that you two were safe and far away from the Zarkon’s reaches.”

“And what about yourself?”

“Ideally I would sacrifice myself in battle so that you and your sister could live to see another day.”

_“Ideally?”_

Lance turned around on his heels and upon his face sat not the emotionless expression of a battle hardened warrior about to step into battle, but one of sadness over losing another member of his family and fear of the unknown.

“Who would pilot the red lion? Who would lead our people? What about Allura? Who will be there for her when I can’t?”

Tears that Lance had promised he wouldn’t let fall began to visibly well in his ocean blue eyes. Ever since he had started his training as a warrior, he had been told from day one that he must be strong so others could be weak. He took the saying to heart, never showing anybody but one outside of his family what his true feelings were. Now that he truly assessed the situation, Lance realized just how little he could do to change it.

Altea was gone as were their people. They were all that was left.

His love, his Jali, was dead. Never to walk under the light of the stars again.

Blue and the lions were gone.

And his father, the only parent he had left, was going to die and leave him with the task of rebuilding Altea when the time came.

The weight of truth fell heavy on his shoulders, tears began to roll down his cheeks like the spring water in the valleys after a long winter. Clanging of metal came to meet his ears as his sword slipped from his grasp and after a lifetime of bearing his troubles alone and shouldering them as if they were nothing, Lance’s knees finally gave way.

“Father, I will never be the leader you are or the gifted alchemist you have become.” He looked at the ground and squeezed his eyes shut in abject shame and embarrassment at weakness. “I will never be as good as you.”

“You’re right.”

Lance looked up in shock Although he did not want it, he completely expected his father to comfort him.

“What?”

“I said that you’re right. You’ll never be the leader I am or nearly as gifted an alchemist me.”

Hurt and anger began to radiate from the young warrior’s heart but before he could formulate a response, his father continued.

“It would be completely absurd of me to ask you to follow in my shadow when I’ve seen the astounding individual you are. Your sister may have a gift for alchemy, but you, my son, were born to be a leader. Even though you may make mistakes along the way, never forget that you are my son, whose destiny as a king starts not with the people that he governs but within his own heart.”

The wise words of his father instilled within him a sudden calmness that overtook him and urged him forward into the open arms that awaited him. An idea began to form in his head as they sat there for what seemed like eons before either dared to speak.

“Goodbye, Lance,” said Alfor. His voice was thick with emotion and tears.

“Goodbye, father.” Even though he knew that this wasn’t the last time he would see his father, if his plan was indeed successful, his own emotions pulled at his heart.

They shared one final moment together before Lance turned to follow Coran to the sleeping chambers. The two walked in silence blanketed by emotion, for the halls that they journeyed down were not just halls to Lance. Instead they were the places where he had so many fond memories of chasing his sister down the halls as small children and of much more tender moments shared between him and Jali, the one person he had ever let into his heart.

Now all that was gone and in its wake stood a catastrophic nightmare.

They entered the cavernous room that housed the sleeping chambers, one of which he could see held the sleeping form of his younger sister while the other two ones were empty. Coran went to open the one next to Allura, oblivious of what Lance was about to do.

_I’m sorry Coran. I hope you’ll be able to find it in your heart to forgive me one day._

In one swift motion, Lance had his mentor in a chokehold with the latter desperately grasping futilly at the strength of the other’s arm.

“Don’t… do… this… Lance,” Coran choked out.

“I’m sorry my friend, but I must.” Tears yet again began to spring from his eyes. “I won’t kill you, but I must help my father. That I hope you can understand.” He paused in order to get a hold on his emotions, because although he was indeed crying, he did not want Coran’s last memories of him to be of a sniveling coward who ran from the destiny of a king, but instead of a brave prince willing to die in battle alongside his father. “Take care of Allura and tell her...tell her I love her.”

The older man tried to say something in response, but the lack of oxygen flow to his brain won over and he fell into an unconscious state. After gently placing Coran’s unconscious body into a sleeping chamber, he closed the door that would entomb his friend until he was awoken. Lance looked over at his sister as he began to walk towards the door, knowing it would be the last glimpse he would see of her forever.

* * *

He raced down the hallways as he made his way to the front entrance of the once mighty castle. Reaching behind him, he drew forth the sword that he had forged by hand, and with the other hand pulled the lever to open the door.

A wave of heat from the burning world hit him in the face before the smell of smoke came to fill his nose. In front of his eyes lay the ruins of the once mighty Altea that now was flooded by flames that ate away at all that he once knew. In the skies, that were stained a smoky dark red from the combination of the setting sun and the smoke from the burning world, there sat Galran warships waiting like birds of prey to pick off the last survivors.

Lance pressed forward bravely through the waves of heat that rolled off the burning landscape. His practiced eyes scanned the bridges and walkways that spread out in front of him. Although many had been destroyed in the bombardment, there were a handful that remained standing and it was on one of these just below the main bridge that Lance could barely see  his father battling Zarkon through the flames of the fire that leapt up from the ground. Their blades sparked with the embers of battle before the sound bounced off the surroundings to meet his ear.

Lance had seen his father fight before but this was a different fight altogether. The king of the dying world fought with the reckless ferocity of a man who had nothing to lose. Although he was strong, Lance knew that it was only a matter of time before his father began to weaken.

He desperately wished that there was a way to get down to the lower walkway that was faster than having to travel back through the castle. Searching frantically, he realized with a sinking feeling that jumping down to an adjacent bridge would be the only way to get to them.

There were few things the prince hated more than free falling helplessly through the air, but he expertly pushed aside the fear that bubbled in the bottom of his stomach, sheathed his sword, backed up a handful of steps, and began to run until he felt nothing beneath his feet.

When he went to open his eyes to see where he would land, smoke stung at them and made it nearly impossible to see with the reflexive tears that began to well in his dark blue eyes.

The long fall came to a rolling stop when he landed. Here the heat was magnified by an immeasurable amount. Almost immediately sweat began to accumulate on his forehead and become absorbed in the clothes underneath his armor. This place that had once been a picturesque mountain side with a view of a sprawling and magnificent valley now felt like the lowest level of hell where sinners were sent to burn and melt and be reformed again only to suffer the same fate again and again for eternity.

Taking one final glance up at the main bridge that seemed to be so far above him now, Lance was oddly calmed by the fact that he was so close to facing his demise.

At least now he wouldn’t have to face his greatest fear.

Returning his attention to what he could see of the ensuing battle in front of him, Lance could tell that in the time it had taken him to reach this point, his father’s strength had significantly weakened. Instead of fighting offensively, Alfor now fought defensively, constantly having to move in order to block the sword strokes of his foe. He had been pushed back so far that the two of them were barely visible through the fiery haze from were Lance now stood.

Taking a final, deep, smoke-filled breath, Lance took a running start and took one final leap. He only let that breath go when he felt both his feet land on solid ground. When he turned to try to find Zarkon and his father, the haunting red glow of the flames around him tainted the clear air with its heat.

In front of him stretched the final plane of battle, where the roaring of the flames seemed quiet in comparison to rushing of the blood he heard coursing through his ears. Drawing his sword from its sheath once more, he walked swiftly forward into battle.

Although he had been in countless battles before, Lance had never been more frightened. It may have been because he knew that this could quite possibly be the end for him and his father or that it might not be.

Either way he was terrified but would never let it show.

Especially in front of his father.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity of walking, a shadowy figure on the edge of visibility began to materialize out of the haze. As he crept closer he recognized the dark, hulking figure of Zarkon who clearly was leaning over a second figure that seemed to be struggling to get up from the ground. A conversation floated back towards the warrior as he crept closer still, waiting patiently for the right moment to strike.

“How does it feel to know know that all your people lie dead by my hand and that it all could have been prevented if you would have just handed over the lions?”

“No worse than knowing that my brother betrayed me.” Alfor said boldly. He put up no fight now, perhaps taking solace in the false notion that his children were safe.

“Well, dearest brother,” Zarkon said sarcastically as he raised his blade to deliver the final blow, not knowing that Lance was right behind him. “It appears that it’s time for you to reunite with the rest of your miserable race.”

The blade sliced through the air and would have hit home and sliced the king’s head clean off if Lance wouldn’t have blocked it.

The momentary surprise and confusion allowed Lance to catch Zarkon off guard and use his leg to kick him back a small handful of feet.

With a renewed sense of purpose Alfor was helped to his feet by his son and did not stop to question his appearance, although Lance could see the confusion, anger, and joy that had swirled together in his father’s eyes. Although his father appeared to be severely weakened by the previous battle, a new found energy seemed to radiate off of him.

All of this happened in an instant, for by the time Alfor had regained his footing, Zarkon had regained his composure.

“Aaah...Prince Lance come to help you father have you? How sweet.” The cold words sent chills down Lance’s spine but he remained brave and held his sword bravely while standing strong next to his father in the face of danger.

“Let’s end this once and for all Zarkon.” Lance challenged.

“Oh, I intend to bring about the end of this just as much as the both of you do. Except my version doesn’t involve either of you alive anymore.”

With that the battle begun.

Swords flew left and right, sparks illuminating the earthen reds of the air.

The battle that had begun when Zarkon dared to invade Altea ended here and now.

The father and son team had the warlord on the offensive, switching off between one-on-one and fighting as a team against their foe. Adrenaline coursed through Lance’s veins, its energy renewed with every pump of his heart and made time speed slowly by in snippets of high-definition. It appeared that they were winning until Zarkon’s sword managed to slip past the well practiced defenses of the Altean prince and struck home in his gut.

The pain was unbearable.

Spots danced before his eyes and the world began to fade.

A distant shout from his father.

A familiar face that was stained with tears appeared in front of his own.

The terrible pain of being lifted up and carried.

A fiery portal ring glowed in the dim room of the sleeping chambers.

 _No, this isn’t what I want, just let me die,_ his brain though slowly.

The return of the terrible pain and being gently laid in a sleeping chamber next to Coran.

The tear-stained face of his father leaving him for the last time with an I love you thick with tears and the sound of the closing door.

The ring of portal fire disappearing before he fell into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any questions, comments, or concerns, you can tell ask us at tumblr or ask us on instagram with the tag #usandthemvld  
> Wattpad: horsegirl7241  
> Tumblr: v01t0n_trash


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it has been around a month since we last updated – basically we've been so busy and family and stuff (Tay) and band camp (Ness - it's brutal being CG captain).  
> But no fear!  
> We are well and alive somehow and here we are, bringing you another chapter! We hope that you all love it as much as we do and we have so much planned for not only this story but others that are also in the process of being written and passing the Beta test.  
> This story is written by Tay.  
> Enjoy the Stories and be sure to give much love!

“Beginning approach to Kerberos for the rescue mission. How’re we looking Pidge?”

“Good for now, all things considered.”

“Beautiful. Disengage autopilot and hand the controls over to me.” 

Pidge sighed defeatedly, having a hunch about what would happen next. “Aye aye captain.”

AUTOPILOT DISENGAGED flashed across Acxa’s screen and the teenager smirked with glee. “Hold onto your dinner because here we go.”

“Hey, uh about that. Can you please go a little gentler on the landing this time? I don’t think anyone wants to see that beef stroganoff again,” Hunk pleaded from his spot behind the pilot.

Acxa turned around with a sly smile on her face.

“You mean like this?” She sent the craft into a nosedive, only to quickly have it even out. “Or like this?” She yanked the stick to the right, sending the plane into a barrel roll.

“Acxa! Cut it out, I’m serious!” Hunk yelled. As if to annunciate his words, the plane gave a shudder and the normally serene blue screens began to flash red.

“We’ve got a hydraulic stabilizer out!” Pidge shouted over the obtrusive warning tones of the computer system.

“Hunk, take care of that! Pidge, track the signal so I know where on this godforsaken moon to land!” 

“I can’t track it unless we get that stabilizer fixed!” Pidge shot at the pasty-faced engineer who was currently kneeling over the gearbox trying to keep his dinner in his stomach.

“I’m working on it it’s just—” Hunk dry heaved before attempting to regain his composure. “I think I’m gonna hurl.”

Acxa turned around sharply and pointed a finger accusingly at her friend. “Oh no, you don’t. If you puke, this whole friggin ship is gonna smell like shit. I don’t need that and neither does Pidge so either you keep it down or swallow it when it comes back up.” 

Hunk nodded quickly in a timid manner before setting back to work on the gearbox.

Suddenly a blip appeared on Acxa’s screen alerting her to where the distress signal was coming from. The pilot’s eyes lit up in excitement.

“Scratch that, Hunk. We’ve found our people. Pidge, call down to them and tell them their ride is here.” 

“Acxa, we need to fix the stabilizer before we make an attempt at landing. You know, so we don’t die!” Pidge warned before Acxa could act.

“Pidge,” Acxa said. “Relax. We’ll be fine. I’ve taken physics before, therefore I know that if I go fast enough it should cancel out the shaking and get us to the ground safe, sound, and vomit free.”

“Yeah… about that… the beef stroganoff may or may not have made a second appearance in the gearbox… sorry” Hunk piped up as he buckled himself back into his seat.

“Nevermind. Pidge do what I told you. Hunk, I hope you didn’t have seconds.” Despite a flat look from Pidge, Acxa began the descent to the surface of the moon. 

Just as she sent the craft into a steep descent, a thud followed by grumbling was heard from behind her off to the right. Turning around once more, she saw her friend stumbling to get back in the seat. “Pidge, so help me God, if you don’t buckle your ass back in that seat I will glue it there for you.”

Having been used to Acxa getting snappy when under pressure, Pidge paid the girl no mind other than a brief roll of the eyes and went to work radioing the ground crew while the ship shuddered and shook in its downward descent. “Attention, lunar vessel, this is Galaxy Garrison Rescue Craft One Victor Six Three Tango. Coming in for landing and extraction, against crew recommendations.” 

“Pidget, I don’t have time for your ‘tude. Go be a petty bitch somewhere else.” Acxa shot back. “And would you look at that, we made it through the outer atmosphere, told you we would.”

Sure enough, the icy surface of Kerberos whizzed past the viewport at dizzying speed, however, up ahead and fast approaching was an arch that even a skilled and experienced pilot would have trouble maneuvering through. Although Acxa was skilled, she wasn’t anywhere near skilled enough to be able to survive a flight through such an obstacle.

This, however, did nothing to deter her.

“Uh, Acxa, watch out for that overhang,” Hunk warned nervously from the back. When he received no response except the further acceleration of the ship, he realized what was happening. “I know what you’re thinking and I know that it’s a terrible idea so just don’t.” 

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this Hunk.” 

“That’s what you always say,” he sighed defeatedly before squeezing his eyes shut.

“Hang on tight! Here we go!” Yanking the stick to the left, the ship rocked up on its side. The reckless thrill of adrenaline that Acxa loved coursed through her veins as she let out a whoop of joy. 

For a split second, she felt free. 

Free as if she truly were in space. 

Then all of a sudden sirens began to sound in the cabin, altering the crew to the loss of a wing.

“That’s a new one,” Pidge observed in a melodramatic and bitingly sarcastic tone. “Usually we just crash.” 

Try as she might to land the craft successfully, the plane crashed much to Acxa’s disdain. She had thought for sure that this time she would successfully complete the simulation. A fire of anger blazed deep inside of her, igniting the tinder of both long-held resentments that were caged and held against their will deep within her heart.

Anger at herself for being such a crappy pilot and at her own inability to be a leader to her friends. All she had ever done was let them down, in her opinion, they would be better off without her and it was beyond her reasoning why they had stuck around this long. 

Anger at her long, dead father for abandoning her after he died a heartbroken hero.

Anger at her mother for leaving her father, subsequently catapulting him into a life of reckless abandonment and alcoholism.

Anger at Shiro for pushing her to pursue her dream as a pilot, which was now obviously another impossible reality.

Acxa wanted to become a pilot so she could forever leave the place that had caused her so much pain and hurt and to escape the lies that she and other people had told her.

And once she left she knew that she would never look back again and not have a single drop of regret. 

Her body moved out of recognition of commands that were barely audible over the intense roaring of the flames within her. As she and her friends stepped out of the simulation, they were bombarded by the harsh criticism of their superior. With their heads hung low, the three cadets weathered the storm of words with quiet bravery and stoicism. 

“Can anybody tell me what these three cadets did wrong?” Iverson drilled the rest of the class. In response, multiple hands shot up to answer the question.

“The engineer puked in the gearbox.”

As each of their mistakes was brought up, Acxa ran over in her head what could have been done differently. What she should have done differently. 

With all her heart Acxa wished that she could protect her friends from the harsh words that fell upon them. 

“...you even listening to me cadet?” 

Acxa’s hearing returned to her just in time to catch what was being thrown at her. 

“No, sir. It’s kind of hard to hear you through the ringing in my ears from all the yelling you’ve been doing.” Shiro had always told her that her mouth would get her in trouble if she didn’t keep a handle on it, but Shiro wasn’t here and Acxa was mad. Taking pleasure and strength in the shock and outrage that had scampered onto the man’s face, she continued. 

Glancing briefly over in her friend’s direction, she saw Hunk mouthing no and Pidge, who stood next to her, shaking her head.

“Maybe if you opened both your eyes you could see that we’re just a bunch of kids who still have a long way to go before we get our asses blasted into space.” She took a step forward with her finger pointing accusingly. “Maybe if you were actually worth your weight in whatever money they’re paying you to throw shit in kid’s faces and jerk off to the rulebook, you’d actually have put more of an effort into trying to find the missing Kerberos crew.” 

Muffled snickers of laughter floated through the air that crackled with tension. Iverson’s face had taken on a beet red and firm expression. “Let me make something clear,” he hissed through his teeth in barely controlled rage. “The only reason why you’re here is because Takashi Shirogane put in a good word for you and thought you’d be worth something. I, on the other hand, think that you’re a snotty brat who should have been left in the miserable cow town that you came from. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you that you’d be nothing but trouble and that’s exactly what you’ve become. A hindrance and a danger to your crewmates.”

Every word cut like a knife through Acxa’s heart but she remained solid and her facial expression unchanged, internalizing every word to store away for later to use as ammunition. 

“Never in my years of teaching here have I encountered someone with such deplorable personality traits as yourself. You should count yourself lucky that you weren’t sent packing as soon as Shirogane was pronounced M.I.A.”

Something snapped inside of Acxa. Like an old injury broken anew, pain punched a hole in her inner psyche only to immediately be filled by anger. Logical thoughts were replaced by rash minded and hasty ones. And as her superior turned back around thinking he had won the verbal battle, Acxa called out to him.

“Hey, shit head!” She jeered.

“Acxa, stop. Let it go before you do something stupid.” Pidge whispered from beside her. 

Iverson’s head snapped back towards her, an expression similar to the one that formerly occupied his face sat upon it.

“Suck on this!” 

“Motherfucker.” Pidge groaned to herself.

Time slowed down. Hands that belonged to Pidge tried to hold her back, but their efforts were in vain. Acxa’s hand sailed through the air and made contact with Iverson’s face — more specifically his one good eye — and for a split second, it felt good. 

Then time came rushing at her with the full force of a speeding train. At the shout of pain from the man she had just pummeled in the face, Acxa felt instant regret. She would have apologized but she knew from her years of bouncing around in foster homes that people never truly forgave you once you had wronged them and no matter how hard you wished to be forgiven, the punishment still came. 

She wasn’t sorry for Iverson at all. 

No.

She knew that this would be the straw that broke the camel’s back, meaning that for all Shiro had done to get her into this place she had just gone and undid all of the kindness he had extended to her.

Now she would never get to go to space to rescue him and Katie’s brother and dad.

Now all she could do was run. 

Run as far away as her feet could take her from the shouts of her friends telling her to come back. 

Away from the guards who chased her.

Away from her fears.

Like a coward.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any questions, comments, or concerns, you can tell ask us at tumblr or ask us on instagram with the tag #usandthemvld  
> Wattpad: horsegirl7241  
> Tumblr: v01t0n_trash


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyy, so it's been about a month (a bit more) since we last updated. We are truly sorry but it be like that sometimes. I'm busy with marching band and life/school and Tay is busy with life/school and her boyyyfriieenndddd (never have any time for me sigh – just kidding I love youuu).  
> A L S O – We do have other stories in writing - yes we are basically begging to die but it's okay! We are sure that you'll love them.  
> Anyways here is the next chapter.
> 
> This story is written by Tay.  
> Enjoy the Stories and be sure to give much love!

The sound of swords meeting in the heat of battle echoed across the cavernous room. 

With the practiced grace of many years, the two brothers fought with a certainty that few could ever hope to attain. Ever since the two had been small, they had been trained in the art of sword fighting. They had been taught that life and glory went to the winner while simply death awaited the loser. This was the way of the Galra. There was no surrender, except for the mere exception of practice but even then, losing was not pleasant. The loser would meet the smart of a cane upon their head or the brutal assault of words from their governess.

“Growing tired, brother?” Kal asked. A haughty smirk sat on his face. The years since the early days of their youth had done Kalmon well. His babyish cheeks and chubby arms had been replaced by angular and muscled features that even the blind would have found attractive to look at. Although he wasn’t fully Galra, as Zarkon had hoped when he took Kal under his wing, Lotor’s brother looked more Galran than the truly blooded descendant of the throne did. 

“Not as long as I am on my feet,” Lotor replied as their swords locked in battle. “Which should be easy since you fight like a drunken barmaid,” he teased his brother.

“You should know what one looks like from the countless times you’ve slept with one,” Kalmon said with a smirk, not missing a beat.

Distracted momentarily by his brother’s words that left him searching his mind for a response of equal magnitude, Lotor found his legs being swept out from underneath of him. 

After years of training, one was bound to favor a move or sleight of hand that came easiest. 

For Kal, such a thing happened to be kicking his opponent’s legs out from underneath them when they were distracted and other sneaky and underhanded moves. 

After years of training one also picked up on their opponent’s weaknesses and moves they used as a last resort — a vice of sorts — and learned how to counteract and adapt to these.

For Lotor, he knew every one of his brother’s sneaky moves and had learned long ago how to prevent them from giving way to his own folly. At times he wondered why his brother even tried anymore. 

That’s why when Lotor felt his legs begin to slide out from under him and the floor draw ever closer, instead of falling flat on his face as he had done countless times before, he rolled gracefully across the ground and then came to stand a few feet away.

“You aren’t the only one with tricks up their sleeves,” Lotor said, smiling at the brief flash of surprise on Kal’s face that was soon replaced by a smile.

“It appears not.” A touch of laughter could be heard through his words.

“It does appear, however, that you two have much to improve on,” came the nagging voice of Dayak from the observation room far above. “The two of you always make concessions for the other’s weakness.” She looked down the bridge of her nose at Lotor, insinuating quietly that it was his fault alone that Kal wasn’t as good as she thought he could be. He was accustomed to this look, however. It was another thing to add to the list of things that were unfixable and beyond his control. 

“You are dismissed,” Dayak stated curtly. “Maybe tomorrow you will be able to fight like warriors instead of boys piddling around with toy swords.” She turned sharply on her heels and walked out of the training hall. Kal glared after her and stuck his tongue out once he was sure that Dayak wouldn’t turn back around. 

“Your maturity never ceases to unimpress me.” Lotor let out a slight breathless chuckle. 

Contrary to his once happy expression, Kalmon’s face was now one of absolute seriousness. “She shouldn’t treat you like that. You’re as much Galra as I am. If anything she should treat you better than me because you’re the true air to the throne.” 

“Not in our father’s eyes I’m not.” Lotor looked away from his brother and picked up a towel sitting on a nearby bench. “In his eyes, I’m nothing but a  _ musuko _ , it’s as simple as that.” He spoke through the towel as he gently pulled over his face. That was when he felt a steady hand on his shoulder. 

“No, you’re not. You’re my brother. I don’t care what they say about you, you didn’t get to choose who your parents were.” Kal offered a confident smile in an attempt to lighten the mood. “They’re blind if they can’t see you for who you really are.”

“Kal, it’s best to leave the chivalry to the resistance. Nothing that you say will undo centuries of prejudice. That’s not to say, however, that your words fall upon deaf ears with me.” 

“That’s good to know.” Kalmon reached down and grabbed a water bottle off of the ground. “Now if only you were as good at fighting as you were at listening.” Just as his brother went to tip the bottle up to drink from it, Lotor reached forward and smacked the bottom of it which caused water to spill out of it and down the front of the other boy’s shirt.

“Refreshing.” Kal deadpanned, giving Lotor a flat and disapproving look. All it took was a smile from his older brother for Kal to smile which quickly blossomed into a laugh. As the two of them sat laughing at how ridiculous Kal looked with his fur dripping wet, Lotor was truly happy. When they were alone like this it was almost as if they were just normal brothers going about their everyday lives without the expectations that they had been saddled with since a very young age.

Their time together was interrupted by the opening of the doors that signaled another presence entering the room. It was a presence of authority that carried with it an undertone of darkness and evil so strong that succeeded in its bid for attention in the room. So strong was this presence in fact that the laughter comes to an immediate stop and the two brothers turned their attention to their father, Zarkon. A man of cruel and unyielding countenance, the leader of the Galra empire was the practical embodiment of the dark and twisted ways of his people. With a cape of dark purple flowing behind him menacingly, he seemed to glide forward as his eyes that were aglow with the energy of quintessence cast unmasked judgment upon his two sons.

“Dayak tells me that you have digressed considerably in your training.” Although the comment was spoken as if directed to both of them, Zarkon stared straight at Lotor as if he was blaming him for Kal’s lack of experience with the sword. 

“Father,” Kalmon addressed the emperor with eyes downcast and a slight bow to his waist, ever respectful towards him. “If I may, Lotor and I have just come back from a campaign in the outer reaches. Therefore—”

“Do not try to make concessions for your failures!” Zarkon snapped angrily. Lotor caught the slight flinch in his brother’s shoulders as he seemed to be pulled back up to a standing position by invisible strings. “A king must accept failure as it comes to him.” 

“As for you,” now Zarkon was looking and addressing Lotor.  _ This should go over well, _ he thought to himself. “I allowed Kalmon to fight alongside your band of half-blooded generals in hopes that he would learn something decent. Now I see that all you’ve done is fill his head with errant pipe dreams!”

“Father—” 

“Silence, Kalmon!” Zarkon barked. “From now on, the two of you will be trained separately and Kalmon will stay here when you are off galavanting about in the galaxy. Do I make myself clear?” He ended on a note of finality, the kind which ends all possible conversations but dares the listeners to rebuke him. 

Seeing as to neither of them dared to speak out against their father, Zarkon seemed pleased. “Good. Kalmon, do whatever you need to prepare yourself to look decent. Our presence is required at a war meeting in fifteen dobashes.” 

Before Kal went to follow after their father, he glanced over at Lotor with a look in his eyes that apologized without words. 

Lotor knew that his brother did not relish in the preferential treatment shown towards him. He hated it because he knew that it was Lotor who Zarkon should be grooming to one day follow in his footsteps instead of sending him to the outer reaches. 

_ It’s okay _ , Lotor signed with his hands in a language that they had created in the days of their early childhood.  _ Go ahead, don’t worry about me. _

The smile that then inhabited Kal’s face was not one of pure happiness, but one of relief.  _ Don’t die, asshole.  _ Kalmon signed back before walking away swiftly.

Lotor sighed. Ever since the day that Zarkon had taken Kal in, the emperor had insisted that his adopted son be the successor to the empire that he would leave behind in his death. This was simply to cover up the fact that Zarkon, the puritanical ruler that insisted on only the survival of those who were full-blooded Galra, had gone against his own creed and sired a half-bred child. Lotor had learned quickly to brave boldly the insults thrown at him from not only his teachers but his own father, who never returned a speck of affection to even his favorite child. Where Lotor had long ago stopped trying to please his father and cater to his every wish and command like an obedient dog, Kal had managed to stay on hospitable terms with their father. 

Even though Kal disliked Zarkon for how he treated his brother, Lotor knew that deep down Kal was loyal to Zarkon in a way that he never would be. This came from the lies that Zarkon had filled his head with as a young child, of how the emperor had ‘rescued’ Kalmon from the hands of the enemy. Although Lotor had never had the courage to tell his brother, he knew in his heart that Kal had most likely been ripped away from his family at a very young age and he had resolved to let his brother concoct whatever sort of fantasy about Zarkon finding him that he wanted. In hindsight, it may not have been the best plan because eventually the predatory truth would find him like a hunted creature and tear him apart. To what extent Kal knew of their father’s villainy, Lotor wasn’t sure but he did know one thing. All he wanted was for his brother to be safe and happy. Beyond that nothing frankly mattered, for Kalmon was the only family that the disgraced prince truly had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any questions, comments, or concerns, you can tell ask us at tumblr or ask us on instagram with the tag #usandthemvld  
> Wattpad: horsegirl7241  
> Tumblr: v01t0n_trash


	5. Chapter 4: Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Chrysler my fellow padawans/paladins!  
> Today we get to celebrate gifts, love, laughter, joy, and everything else in the world! Most importantly, Life!  
> Today we felt generous and thus we are gifting the world not one put 2 updates! Because this chapter is broken into two parts and we just want you all to love it as much as we do. :)  
> Also who cried during season 8 because I totally did and you can ask Tay cause I was sobbbiinngggg, it wasn't pretty.
> 
> This story is written by Tay.  
> Enjoy the Stories and be sure to give much love!

_“I_ _wanted to be a spaceman, that's what I wanted to be_

_But now that I am a spaceman_

_Nobody cares about me”_

The lyrics of Henry Nilsson’s “Spaceman” echoed rang through the lone earbud Acxa had in her ear from her iPod as she angrily stuffed unfolded clothes into her duffle bag. Over the course of the past hour, she had managed to pack up nearly everything in her room and was almost done when a hissing, mechanized sound revealed to her that someone was entering the room. Acxa heaved an aggravated sigh. It was probably her obnoxious roommate Lauren come to spill tea about some poor sot that she liked.

“Lauren, I’m saying this as nicely as I can so you don’t get butthurt, but please go away. I’m not in the mood for my daily copy of Hoe’s Digest.” Acxa gave a small smile at her own joke and continued stuffing the bag that lay at her feet.

“Nice joke, but I’m not Lauren and neither is the dude standing next to me,” came a familiar and welcome voice. “And who the hell taught you how to fold like that?”

“Hey, Pidge. Hey, Hunk. What brings you by here?”

“I felt a disturbance in the Laundry, and rightly so,” said Hunk. “Your folding skills are most unimpressive, padawan.”

Acxa stood up and kicked the duffle bag across the room towards him “Have at it, Hunk. Besides,” She got up and put her iPod on the docking station that Shiro had gotten her for her birthday last year. Soft music from the playlist designated as ‘Oldies’ started playing from the speakers. “It’s probably the only time you’ll ever see a bra that’s not in a department store.”

“Yeah, keep that up and see what happens, Kogane.” Hunk said as he dumped all of the clothes out onto the floor and set to work folding them and sorting them into neat piles according to the article of clothing.

“So what brings you guys to my humble shithole in the wall?” Acxa flopped down on her bed.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Acxa caught her friends briefly sharing a concerned look but as quickly as it came, it was gone.

“We came by to check on you after what happened today during class,” Pidge explained.

“Not much, all that happened was a little game of tag that ended with the campus security tackling me in a big bear hug before we hopped and skipped on over to the dean’s office.” She absentmindedly picked up a super ball from the bedside table and started to throw it against the ceiling. “After that, I had a nice little chat with Milas and he kindly told me to pack my things up tonight so they could take me back to a foster home somewhere in Reno tomorrow.”

The music from the speaker continued to shuffle idly through the music after the song ended as the silence was further punctuated by the sound of the ball hitting the ceiling with a dull thud, only to return to Acxa’s outstretched hand

“We’re gonna miss you.” Pidge remarked from her spot on the floor.

“Yeah. Once you leave it’ll just be me and Pidge. They’ll probably find us some new pilot who doesn’t know port from starboard.” Hunk added as he continued his meticulous folding of the articles of clothing laid out on the floor.

Seeing her friends upset at her impending departure made Acxa wish that she had heeded Shiro’s advice come back to haunt her from the past about not letting her anger control her actions. Now she had to face the consequences of possibly never seeing her friends again. “Hey guys, c’mon, cheer up. I don’t want my last night here to be such a bummer.” It was then that she was struck with an idea. “Hunk, I think it’s time that Pidge and I let you in on a secret of ours.” Acxa looked over at her friend whom she had known before they came to the academy. The girl she had spent countless nights staring into the stars within hopes of finding their respective familial counterparts. The girl that quite possibly meant the world to her. “Whaddya say, Pidge?”

The other girl grimaced. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?” She spared a brief glance in Hunk’s direction, indicating her uncomfortableness with the idea of him knowing. Acxa was apprehensive as well, but not for the same reasons Katie was. Up until now, she had been the only one to be entrusted with the great honor of keeper of her friend’s secrets. These secrets acted as a sort of glue that sat at the core of their friendship and Acxa was almost jealous that Hunk would now be the keeper of the secrets in her absence.

“C’mon. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Meanwhile, Hunk looked back and forth between the two trying to understand what was going on. “Are you two dating or something, because, if so, I don’t want to be the third wheel on a night like tonight.”

“Meet me on the roof in ten minutes.” Pidge relented, ignoring Hunk’s question completely as she jumped to her feet and ran out the door leaving Hunk staring after her in confusion.

“What—”

“All will be explained in due time, my dear friend. In the meantime, we should probably get moving before they send the hounds out to search the hallways for the souls of the damned.” Acxa plucked her iPod off the stand, along with her earbuds that sat nearby and stuffed them into the pouch of her hoodie.

“Huh?” Hunk sat on the floor in a rightly placed state of confusion.

Acxa gave him a flat, unimpressed look. “We should leave now before they call lights out and send the teachers to roam the halls,” she explained as if talking to a very small child. Without another look in the boy’s direction, she slinked out the door and into the fastly thinning crowd of students ambling back to their dorms.

“Can’t you just tell me what’s going on _without_ sneaking out past curfew?” Hunk groaned to the empty room.

Acxa’s head popped back into the door frame. “Now, Hunk, where would the fun in that be?” She was gone again in nearly the blink of an eye.

Begrudgingly, Hunk heaved himself to his feet, leaving the folded laundry half folded on the floor, and snuck out of the room to follow after her.

***

The stars shone brightly in the sky above as the duo made their way out onto the rooftop. In front of them sat Pidge, the light from her screencast a glow across her face, that made her all the more beautiful in Acxa’s opinion.

“That’s it? You guys brought me up here to see the stars?” Hunk huffed as he recovered from the trek up twelve flights of stairs.

“Yes Hunk, this is the big secret,” Acxa deadpanned.

“Well, sorry for not being thrilled about sneaking through the corridors after curfew only to hoof it up twelve flights of stairs to go stargazing when I could have done that in the starlab,” Hunk retorted, picking up on his friend's sarcasm.

“Would you two knock it off already?” Pidge practically pleaded from her perch.

“Whoah. Where’d you get tech like that?” Hunk asked her, seeming to just realize the uniqueness that lay before his eyes.

“I made it,” Pidge replied. Her pride for her homemade computer showing through in her smile as Hunk trundled over to inspect it. “And don’t you dare lay a hand on it.” Hunk’s hand slowly backed away from being mere centimeters from the beautiful work of technological brilliance.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly does it do?”

“Care to explain, Acxa? You _were_ the one who wanted to bring him along.” Hunk’s inquisitive eyes turned to Acxa in response.

“I’ll spare you the sob story and tell it to you straight. The Kerberos mission didn’t fail due to pilot error. Which leads us to this beauty right here.” She patted the second terminal closest to her.

“Hey, how come she gets to touch it?”

“I have no fucking idea how, but whatever sciencey doo-dad that Pidgetto made can pick up noises all the way to the edge of our solar system.”

“Have you guys found any distress beacon from the Kerberos crew yet?”

“No, but we’ve found something even cooler.”

“And that would be…? C’mon, Acxa, gotta fill in the blanks here,  I’m not good at the pronoun game.”

“I’ve heard aliens talking to each other,” Pidge cut in. “They keep repeating one word; Voltron. Tonight they’re going crazy, and more so than usual.”

“Interesting stories, cadets,” a familiar voice came from the shadows, “I’m sure the dean of students would love to hear it.” All of them, with the exception of Acxa, jumped to their feet and saluted the officer that stepped out from behind the dark footprint of a solar panel nearby.

“Professor Wescott,” Pidge addressed the officer.

“Adam,” Acxa greeted him with a cold, steely tone. Her good mood tarnished at the sight of the man who had been the cause of her brother’s heartbreak.

“I heard about the little fiasco today with Iverson. What were you thinking?” He chastised her. His attempt at sounding angry was tinted with worry, which made Acxa all the more upset at his presence here.

“Why do I have to explain myself to you? Obviously, you’ve heard about what happened today so you know that I’ve been expelled,” she shot back. “You seem to be really good at throwing shit back in the face of the people you supposedly care about.”

Adam closed his eyes, clearly frustrated. When he opened them, they seemed softer than when before he had closed them. “I worry because I care, Acxa.”

“If you really cared, then why did you leave us? Why did you leave _him_?” She knew it was unfair to throw what had happened between him and Shiro back up in his face, but this was the first time that she had gotten a chance to talk to him after he had called off the engagement. Acxa figured that since this was the last night that she would hopefully ever see him that she should at least give him a piece of her mind for breaking her brother’s heart. “Do you realize what you did to him? You meant the world to him and now he’s gone. At least we’re trying to do something to save him.”

“Acxa, I—”

“Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: all students are to remain in barracks until further notice.” Iverson’s voice rang out across the cool night air while emergency klaxons began to sound.

“This isn’t good,” Adam stated with a grave tone, eyes looking somewhere behind them. “Those friends of yours?” He asked pointing somewhere off in the sky. The three friends turned to see a fiery object tumbling through the atmosphere.

Pidge asked. “Is that a meteor?”

Adam pulled out a pair of binoculars to inspect. “No. It’s a spaceship and it’s not one of ours.” Nearly as soon as the words left his mouth, the craft pile drived into the course terrain of the surrounding landscape. A dull rumble echoed off the sides of the cliff seconds after the explosion. Vehicles from the Garrison began to swarm towards it like white blood cells to a foreign body.

Acxa turned to Pidge. “You think that’s Voltron?”

“I don’t know, but whatever it is, the Garrison sure seems interested in it.”

“Well, I’m not,” chimed in Hunk. “Whatever it is, we should just let them handle it. I don’t need my face getting sucked off by some space creature. How about we just go back to our rooms and pretend like this never happened?”

“Cadet Garret is right.”

“I am?”

“You guys need to get back inside. I’ll let it slide this time but I won’t be so merciful next time.”

“Thanks, but I’m fresh out of shits to give about your concern today. C’mon, Pidge.” Acxa started walking towards the roof entrance with Pidge and a reluctant Hunk following close behind.

“Where do you three think you’re going?” Adam’s words echoed from behind. Acxa stopped in her tracks and turned sharply on her heels to look at him.

“To go see what the hell is going on. If you want to go tattle on us that’s fine, but just know that whatever you decide won’t change our minds.” Turning back to her course, Acxa picked up a light jog, and the three of them left the roof, abandoning Adam to his thoughts.

Sighing, he lifted his eyes up to the stars. “She reminds me of you when you when we were in school together. Stupid, reckless, and selflessly devoted.” Adam felt his eyes grow heavy with tears. “I’m just trying to look out for her like you would have and I’m sorry I’m doing such a bang up job at it, Takashi.”

Far up in the sky, a star gave a twinkle, and it was almost as if his love was giving him a sign from beyond. Adam had a feeling he knew what it meant too. “Fine. I’ll follow her,” he relented. “But you owe me big time.”

If he thought hard enough, Adam could almost envision that warm smile of Shiro’s. The one that reached his eyes and made his whole face aglow with beauty. He smiled back at the man who was his all and who he wished desperately could be here with him, and followed after the girl he had promised he would always protect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any questions, comments, or concerns, you can tell ask us at tumblr or ask us on instagram with the tag #usandthemvld  
> Wattpad: horsegirl7241  
> Tumblr: v01t0n_trash


	6. Chapter 4: Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Chrysler my fellow padawans/paladins!
> 
> Part 2!!
> 
> also please show us love by commenting – we are very much needy girls and we'd love to hear from you !!!
> 
> This story is written by Tay.  
> Enjoy the Stories and be sure to give much love!

“Where’d you learn to hotwire a car?” Hunk asked from the backseat of the Garrison vehicle.

Acxa fiddled with wires, creating sparks that sputtered vibrantly, only to die just as quick. “Nazi Germany.” Pidge gave a snort of laughter from her spot in the passenger seat. Acxa’s heart swelled the tiniest amount at the fact that her friend grasped the allusion to the movie that they had watched countless times simply because Acxa couldn’t say no to letting Pidge watch one of her favorite movies.

“And yet again, another reference goes right over my head. Thanks for keeping me in the loop, guys,” Hunk sighed from the backseat.

“Sure thing, buddy.” The cruiser rumbled to life after one final spark. “Lady and gentleman, we have ignition. Now, let’s go see what they’re up to out there.” A distant memory, triggered by the gentle roar of the diesel engine made its way into her head. One from a lifetime ago when she met Shiro for the first time and, as he had kindly explained to the officers who had taken her into the police station, ‘taken his cruiser for a little joy ride.’ Looking back on the memory with the foresight of the present, that little excursion had solidified Acxa a place to call home and someone to call her family. As that day had been a stepping off point for the future to unfold into the present, maybe this too would garner the same effect for another present to take place in the future.

A voice calling her name from behind caught Acxa’s attention, drawing her gaze away from the open gate ahead back to the familiar figure running after the truck. Groaning loudly in protest, she slammed on the brakes which were soon followed by the peeps and protests of her friends being caught off guard by the sudden change in momentum.

“Adam, what the hell?”

The man in question jogged up to the driver’s side passenger door and got in, Hunk having moved obediently over as soon as he had seen Adam’s face.

“I’m coming with you. End of story,” he said. “I promised Shiro that I’d take care of you if something ever happened to him and I intend to keep that promise despite the ones I may have fallen through on in the past.”

Acxa looked up into the rearview mirror and made eye contact with the new addition to their group of three, before turning around to physically look him in the eyes through the wire-framed windows of his glasses.

“I know that nothing I can say will get your ass out of that seat, but just know that even though you were butt buddies with my brother doesn’t mean that you can come in here spouting apologies thinking that you can rectal-fy your problems like some hero arisen from the ashes.”

Despite the slight tinge of pink flowering on his cheeks, Adam managed to keep an air of confidence. “Duly noted. I’ll try my best to keep out of your way. Now let’s move out.”

Thankful to be back on their way, Acxa turned her attention back to driving the vehicle out of the lot and into the desert beyond.

* * *

 

“I wish we could see what they were up to in there,” Acxa said as she stared through Pidge’s binoculars.

They had driven out to the crash site only to find that the Garrison had already secured the area surrounding the extraterrestrial vehicle, relegating them to set up a base on an overhang that allowed them a view of not only the movement going on down below but also the surrounding canyons and hills. Since arriving they had been able to do nothing except mill about aimlessly or in Acxa’s case trade-off between pacing anxiously and ripping the binoculars out of people’s hands to check on what was going on far below them.

“Well you’ll be able to as soon as I can gain access to the cameras they have inside,” said Pidge as her fingers flew across the keyboard of her homemade computer.

“How long do you think that’ll take?” Acxa peeked over her friend’s shoulders just as the video feed came online.

“How’s about now,” Pidge replied smugly.

“Have I ever mentioned how awesome you are?”

“Not nearly as often as you should, but I still know that my level of awesomeness will forever exceed yours.”

“Whoa there,” Acxa ruffled her friend’s short hair playfully. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves now.” Turning her attention to the screen, she saw multiple cameras cataloging different angles of the facility, canvassing it in its virtual entirety. Something stood out to her in particular though, or rather someone.

“Pidge, is there any way you can make the view of that one bigger,” she asked pointing to the small square of a view on the screen.

“Sure thing.”

By now, Adam and Hunk had made their way over and were both on either side of Pidge staring at the computer. Glancing over at Adam out of the corner of her eye, Acxa’s suspicions were confirmed. He had seen it too.

The feed was brought up and she immediately knew who it was.

“Takashi.” The words fell softly and almost inaudible from Adam’s lips, and Acxa almost felt bad for him. She could see the hurt that had welled up from his heart that had begun to mix together with hope and happiness. Then she remembered hearing the hurt in Shiro’s voice as he recounted the story of what had happened between the two of them when he had told Adam that he was going to Kerberos. The pain that Adam felt was self-inflicted, and if it wasn’t for the good morals that had been instilled in her, Acxa would have picked him up by the collar of his shirt and given her a very colorful piece of her mind.

_“Hey, what-what are you doing?”_

_“Calm down, Shiro, we just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests on you.”_

_“You have to listen to me!”_ He begged. _“They destroy worlds! Aliens are coming!”_

“That’s—” Hunk began.

“Shiro.” Acxa finished.

“He was the pilot of the Kerberos crew,” Adam said wistfully, in a way that communicated yearning. “He’s alive.”

“Where’s the rest of the crew?” Pidge wondered aloud.

As the conversation progressed, Shiro became more and more frantic, as well as frustrated at the inability of the people to understand the apparent urgency of the situation.

_“Do you know how long you’ve been gone?”_

_“I don’t know. Months, years? Look, there’s no time. Aliens are coming here for a weapon and they’re probably on their way.”_ He looked around the room, searching for someone who would believe him. _“They’ll destroy us. We have to find Voltron.”_

“Voltron!” Pidge looked over at Acxa and then at Hunk and Adam. All of whom were just as surprised as her.

_“Sir, come look at this. It appears one of his arms has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic.”_

_“Put him under until we know what that thing can do.”_

“Acxa, where are you going?”

She stopped in her tracks, not even realizing that she had risen to her feet. “We need to rescue him.”

A firm hand was placed on her shoulders, although whether or not it was meant to comfort her or stop her from walking off, she wasn’t sure.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Adam said, “I want to rescue him too, but we can’t go running in there guns-a-blazing. We have to think this through so we can be successful.”

A tension that Acxa didn’t even know was there, began to dissipate as she realized the truth behind the words. If they wanted to have any hope of helping Shiro, they needed a plan.

Good thing she had one.

“I think I have an idea,” Acxa said.

* * *

The ground shook as explosions rocked the earth just shy of a mile away from the pop-up lab. The cruisers parked around the building roared to life and ate up the ground hungrily in their journey to the point of origin.

“That’s our cue,” Acxa secured the stuffy lab tech helmet on her head and Adam did the same.

“Remember,” the door opened to let them in after they scanned their stolen ID badges. “We’re here to get Shiro and not take our anger out on people. You got that?” Adam reminded her tritely.

“Yes, Professor Wescott,” she mocked as they finally reached the door. On the other side was Shiro. Almost in near synchronization, the two inhaled deeply and stepped in.

The first thing her eyes went to was Shiro, unconscious and laying on the table. _How dare they treat him like this._

“What are you two doing in here? This area is restricted for high ranking officials only,” one of the masked lab techs attending to Shiro ordered.

This hadn’t been part of their detailed, albeit rushed, plan. All of them had assumed that each of the lab techs would have an equal amount of clearance.

“You two deaf? Answer me!” The person, who Acxa now assumed was an officer, seeing as to the fact that his voice both expected and demanded to be obeyed, shouted at them. His buddy on the right began to inch ever so slightly towards something on the table behind him.

“I got the one on the left, you take right,” Acxa said before rushing forward. The masked man completed his course to whatever he was reaching for, which turned out to be a gun.

 _Oh joy, this should be fun._ Acxa thought sarcastically.

She rolled away from the first blast aimed towards her and in the process pulled her knife out of her boot. Popping back up to her feet she gave a swift uppercut with her hand that held the knife, which left the barrel of the gun split in two and the lab tech as confused as ever. Taking advantage of her opponent’s confusion, Acxa dished out a swift punch to the other person’s throat, causing them to keel over gasping for breath. In one swift move, her knee met face and the tech dropped like a sack of bricks to the floor, unconscious.

“Where’d you get a knife like that,” Adam asked from the other side of the lab table. It appeared he had had a less difficult time with his adversary, seeing as he was out cold on the floor. “Please tell me he didn’t give it to you.”

“Don’t worry. My dad gave it to me, said it was from my mom.” She took the mask off and was immediately greeted by the cool, dry air of the room. “We need to get him out of here before they figure out the explosions were just a distraction.”

After quickly extricating themselves from the stuffy suits, the two grabbed hold of Shiro under his arms and began to drag him out of the room and out into the night air pinpricked with stars up above. In front of them, their commandeered hum-v sat idling anxiously. As they neared the vehicle, the back driver’s side door swung open to reveal a Pidge who, if all things had gone according to plan, had pulled up the fastest getaway route. Where the plan went after that nobody was sure just yet. With a collective effort from Adam, Acxa, and Pidge, Shiro was hauled into the backseat.

“Everybody in?” Hunk asked.

Acxa crawled up into the passenger seat. “Yep. Now take your fat foot and put the pedal to the metal.”

“I thought you were gonna drive!” Hunk panicked. As nice as he was, Hunk has a terrible habit of working himself into a needless tizzy over things. Though, in hindsight, it was completely understandable in regards to the situation at hand.

“I barely know how to drive a car on a road much less go all Fast and Furious on our teachers!”

“Hunk, listen to me.” Acxa turned to look him in the eyes. In her friend’s eyes, she saw fear and self-doubt. “You’re gonna do fine. It’s as easy as cooking a casserole.”

“Guys, can you speed up your front seat huddle? I think they out the explosions were just a distraction and they’re coming back,” Pidge said.

And indeed they were. On the not-so-distant horizon, dust was spat into the air in the wake of the vehicles that tread angrily onward toward them.

Hunk made a worried sounding noise and began to break out in a nervous sweat. Acxa wasn’t going to have any of it, though.

“Don’t you dare fucking panic on us, Garret!” Acxa pointed out the windshield at the path ahead. “Now as your friend who cares about you, _put your foot on the damn pedal and drive!_ ”

With a jolt of sudden acceleration and the thud of Shiro rolling off of the row of seats, the car lurched forward and plummeted into the night.

“Be on the lookout for a good place to ditch them,” Adam grunted out while in the process of pulling his ex-fiance’s unconscious body up off the floor.

“Yessir.”

“There’s no need for formalities…Hunk, right? I don’t think I’ll have my job much longer after tonight.” Acxa gave a quick glance into the rearview mirror to see him looking down at Shiro. “All that matters to me is that we got him back.”

“Yeah.” Despite being pursued by a good three-quarters of the Garrison teaching staff, and as much as she hated it, Acxa felt that an apology was in order for how she had treated Adam. The way she had seen things through her prismatic view of the world, he had left Shiro because of a lack of caring. Now, one semi-kidnapping and midway through a car chase later, she realized that he had left because he cared. And he still did, so much so that he was willing to give up the career of his dreams just to know that Shiro was okay.

She took a deep breath. “Hey, Adam?”

His head snapped up like had been caught doing something wrong. “Yes, Acxa?”

“Look, I’m—”

She was interrupted by a sharp change in velocity to the left, which took them up a steep, near vertical incline.

“Hunk, I don’t mean to be rude but, _what the fresh fuck are you doing_?” Pidge yelped, trying to keep her precious cargo stowed in her backpack safely.

“Just trust me. If I explain now, you’ll think I’m crazy.”

“Uh, I hate to break it to you but— _sweet baby Jesus_!”

Hunk jerked the wheel to the right, launching them into the air and down onto a harrowing path where there was little room for driver error. One wrong move and they’d be at the bottom of the gorge faster than they could say ouch.

“Are you trying to get us killed?” Adam yelled.

“No, but hold onto Shiro so he doesn’t hit the windshield.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

In response, Hunk punched the accelerator and the engine gave a shudder as the needle on the tachometer zoomed dangerously close to red. In front of them lied a steep drop off, nearly a cliff that emptied into the valley below.

“Please tell me we aren’t going down that way,” Pidge said from the back seat.

“You said to lose them, so that’s what I’m gonna do.”

“You’re right, I did say that, _not drive us off a cliff_!”

Pidge groaned and put her head in her hands. “We’re gonna die.”

“No, we’re not.”

The hum-v went airborne as he was drowned out by the screams of his friends.

* * *

 

They had finally made it.

After driving for hours through the desert night and a brief hike through a canyon, they had reached one marvelous cave.

“Garret, you have got to be shitting me.” They all stood in front of the wide, yawning mouth of a cave. “You drove us off a cliff and into the middle of nowhere all so that we could go spelunking in the cave of two lovers.”

To say that Acxa was mad was an understatement. She was pissed. The only good thing that had come out of their little desert jaunt was Shiro finally coming to about halfway through their fall to the ground screaming like a girl. Ever the elusive ass, Hunk still refused to tell them how he had known that he would make that fall or why they were here.

“Please, Hunk. Just tell us why you brought us out here,” said Shiro from his spot between Acxa and Adam.

Hunk inhaled deeply and then slowly let it out. “You guys are gonna think I’m crazy, but right after we had just rescued Shiro, I got this crazy weird vision of this robot cat that’s stuck in the mountain that needs us to come to rescue it.”

On any other day, Acxa would have thought he was crazy, but after hearing Shiro talk about escaping from an alien warship before falling from outer space, this sounded surprisingly tame.

“So we have to go in there to find a cat? Sounds easy enough,” Adam mused.

“Wait, you guys don’t think I’m crazy?” Hunk asked, surprised at their acceptance of his reasoning.

“After all that’s happened we’d be crazy not to,” Pidge said after shifting the weight of her backpack around on her shoulders. “Who knows, it might be that Voltron thingy ma-whatsit they were talking about.”

“Very scientific language, Gunderson,” Acxa teased.

“Thank you sifu Kogane, I learned from the best.”

“However much I love being in the loop of continuous references now, we need to get going. Who knows how much time we have until the Garrison sends out a search party for us,” said Hunk. He began to walk towards the dimly lit cave, everyone following after him.

“That’s if they don’t think we’re dead,” said Shiro.

His words were met with silence as they forged ahead into the thickening darkness. With each step, it seemed as if the darkness was smothering them in a blanket. Acxa had been locked in a toy chest enough times to be familiar with the feeling of claustrophobic darkness, perks of being an unwanted child, and to say that she wasn’t a fan of the sensation would be putting it mildly.

“Does anybody have a flashlight?”

“Already on it,” Pidge’s voice came from beside her. Oddly enough, out of all the people that Acxa was close to, Pidge’s presence had an unexplainable calming effect to it, not like she would ever tell her or anything though.

A starburst of energy illuminated the tunnel in front of them to reveal an archaic carving on the wall.

“Is this the lion you were talking about, Hunk?” Shiro came to stand beside them with Adam close behind.

Hunk walked slowly towards the picture that showed a large robotic cat in what looked to be the sky with a burst of energy around it. “I think it is.” Reaching out, he touched the lines on the wall only to have them illuminate with a warm yellow glow. All over the walls, more of the carving lit up, glowing eerily in the blanket of darkness that surrounded them. Above them, there alit a yellow crystalline structure that stretched the length of the ceiling and around the bend and chased the darkness away.

The sudden display of power garnered sounds of awe and surprise from all members of their party.

“This is incredible, judging by the markings on the cave wall, this place must have been around for thousands of years,” Pidge breathed out excitedly after turning off her flashlight.

Acxa ran her hands along one of the other pictures, this one of a meteor falling to Earth. “How has nobody found this place?”

Hunk pointed off deeper into the tunnel. “We’re close. I think it’s just around this bend.”

Following after him, they forged deeper into the tunnel set aglow with the amber rays. It seemed as if they had been walking forever when the tunnel gave way to a huge cavern wherein the middle sat the giant robocat from the wall. Around it sat what looked to be a forcefield meant to protect it, but from what, Acxa wasn’t sure.

They all stood beneath it craning their necks to get a good look at it. As far as the purpose of design went, the thing loomed high above their heads but seemed squat and low to the ground as if it were meant for doing the heavy lifting for whoever, or whatever created it.

“That is one massive lion,” Adam said, in awe of being in the very presence of something like this, as they all were.

“It looks more like my aunt Sharlene’s bulldog,” said Pidge. “Except way cooler.”

“Does anybody else get the feeling that it’s watching us?” Hunk asked, seeming to finally return to his normal, slightly worrisome self.

“Nope, not me,” Acxa replied.

“Well I do, and it’s creeping me out.”

Acxa reached the large force field surrounding it and stretched a finger out to touch it. When her finger made contact with it, a ripple of energy pulsated across the barrier and to the very top of the dome.

“I guess the trick will be getting inside then. Got anything useful in your backpack, Pidge?”

“Well, this is awkward. I seemed to have left my C-4 back at the Garrison, so I’m gonna say no.”

“Please tell me she’s kidding,” Adam looked between the two of them concernedly and then at Shiro. “They’re joking, right?”

“As far as I know,” Shiro said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

Hunk came forward and gave the giant yellow forcefield a once over. “Maybe there’s a secret door somewhere or a weak point in its structural integrity.” He leaned in close to examine it and tapped twice on the seemingly impenetrable wall, only to watch it dissipate beneath his finger.

Beneath their feet, marks in the ground shot up a large beam of light and suddenly Acxa’s view of the cave was replaced with a new one.

Red. Blue. Yellow. Black. Green.

All formed together into one.

One giant being whose life force emitted power.

She felt its power within her, coursing through her veins as the being drew its mighty flaming sword seemingly out of nowhere.

As soon as it had come, however, it was gone.

“Did you guys see that?”

“Voltron is a huge, huge robot,” said Hunk, barely able to contain his excitement.

“And this thing is only a part of it,” Pidge added.

“If this is only one part then where are the other ones?” Adam asked.

Shiro placed absentmindedly placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “This must be what they’re looking for.”

The mighty beast crouched down to their level as if it were about to pounce on something that they couldn’t yet see. Its mouth yawned open to reveal a set of stairs that led farther inside. All eyes turned to Hunk, whose demeanor had returned to his calm and collected one from before. Without another word, he walked forward quite literally into the belly of the beast. It was odd seeing him so assertive in a new situation like this. Usually he would be the one to sit back and let someone else take charge, but instead, he seemed happy to rise to the challenge of leadership.

In the main cockpit, or rather, the head, there sat a single chair with the viewport stretching from wall to wall in front of it.

“This is the part where I have to fly it, isn’t it?” Hunk sighed and hung his head.

“You _were_ the one that is called here,” Pidge pointed out.

“I can barely stand being a passenger in a cargo ship without throwing up. How am I gonna fly an alien warship?”

“And I could barely stand you driving like a bat out of hell and yet here we are,” said Acxa. “That isn’t to say that we don’t trust you, though. If I flew this thing, I would probably just end up crashing it, but then again what else is new.”

Hunk smiled timidly in response, then took a deep breath. He took his rightful place in the pilot’s seat, which moved closer to the control panel as soon as he was situated. The ship came to light with more yellow lighting, and buttons began to appear on the empty panel in front of him along with a view of the cave outside.

“This is incredible,” Pidge quietly said under her breath. Acxa watched as her friend stared around in starry-eyed wonder at what laid before all of their eyes.

“It really is,” she agreed.

“I know how to get us out of here,” Hunk asked excitedly, his nervousness forgotten for joy.

“Woah, woah, woah. Woah,” Adam said. “Let’s not forget that this is a giant alien warship. The last thing we need to do is possibly blow up things with it.”

“Hey, Adam, why don’t you pull the stick out of your ass, then—”

“Acxa,” Shiro warned.

“What?” Acxa asked, feigning innocence.

Unbeknownst to them, Hunk had grabbed ahold of the two handles that controlled the movement of the lion. Energy coursed through his veins as a familiarity akin to seeing an old friend after a long time came to inhabit his heart.

“We’re leaving. Now.” Hunk had never been so sure of something in his life something was out there and whatever, or whoever, it was in need of their help. It needed Voltron’s help.

Without a second thought, he engaged the thrusters at full blast and began their journey into the wide open space of the beyond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any questions, comments, or concerns, you can tell ask us at tumblr or ask us on instagram with the tag #usandthemvld  
> Wattpad: horsegirl7241  
> Tumblr: v01t0n_trash


End file.
